Ransomware and IoT-enabled attacks are expected to continue, while 2017 will see the rise of data integrity attacks, targeting of cloud infrastructure and the use of AI by attackers, experts predict….
2017 will be the year that data integrity breaches will send shockwaves throughout the world, with at least one “almighty” breach disclosure of this type, predicts Jason Hart, chief technology officer of data protection at security firm Gemalto.
Data integrity is a promise or assurance that information can be accessed or modified only by authorised users. Data integrity attacks compromise that promise, with the aim of gaining unauthorised access to modify data for a number of ulterior motives, such as financial or reputational.
“Data integrity attacks are, of course, nothing new, yet they remain under the radar of businesses who have an ever increasing reliance on data and make huge business decisions based on its analysis. These types of attacks are what I like to call the ultimate weaponisation of data,” said Hart.
“The first generation of cyber attacks focused on stopping access to the data, which quickly moved on to stealing it. Today, we’re starting to see more evidence that the stolen data is being altered before transition, effecting all elements of operations,” he said.
According to Hart, data integrity attacks have the power to bring down an entire company and more. “Entire stock markets could be poisoned and collapsed by faulty data. The power grid and other IoT systems, from traffic lights to the water supply, could be severely disrupted if the data they run on were to be altered. And perhaps the greatest danger is that many of these could go undetected for years before the true damage reveals itself,” he said.
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